for free transcripts or to give us your comments about this program, visit us at q-and- a.org. "q&a" programs are also available as c-span podcasts. >> next, british prime minister david cameron takes questions at the house of commons. after that, george osborne, chancellor of the exchequer, talks about the british budget. then a house hearing on electronic privacy. tomorrow on "washington journal ," former republican national committee chairman michael steele talked about the future of the republican party. consumer advocate and former presidential candidate ralph nader discusses income

inequality between ceo's and the typical wage earner. and the director of the george mason university center for advancing correctional excellence looks of the cost and effectiveness of the justice department halfway house program. live atton journal," 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. monday night, called a bigamist and adulterer during her husband's presidential campaign, rachel jackson dies of an apparent heart attack before andrew jackson takes office. his niece becomes the white house hostess but is later dismissed as fallout from a scandal. during the next administration, angelica van buren is the white house hostess for her father-in- law, president martin van buren, who is a widower. we include your questions and comments by phone, facebook, and twitter, live monday night at

9:00 eastern on c-span and c- span three. also on c-span radio and c- span.org. >> during his weekly question time, british prime minister david cameron answered questions on the british economy ahead of the budget address by the chancellor of the exchequer. also talkednister about the eurozone bailout of cyprus. opposition leader@miller band said the situation in cyprus was undermining the basic trust in banks across the eurozone. time access to capital to fund those projects. >> order. questions to the prime minister. mr. philip david. >> mr. prime minister. >> thank you, mr. speaker. mr. speaker, this morning i had meetings with minister colleagues and others and in addition to my duties in this house i shall o have further suh meetings later today. >> does the transfer every with me that today we need a blue-collar conservative project

which has taxes are people who work hard, do the right thing and want to get on? stop spending billions of pounds we don't have on overseas aid where we saw -- helping with their cost of living -- [inaudible] >> first of all, can i thank the honorable frien thing for givine the opportunity to remind people that even before this budget in two weeks time there will be a tax cut for 24 million people in our country? [shouting] as we raise the amount of money you can earn before you pay tax come we will take an over too many people out the tax altogether. we have frozen the council tax. we have canceled fuel duty increase after fuel duty increase, and we are legislating -- and i can also tell him where not going to carry on with a proposal made by the previous energy secretary which was about

179 pounds on everybody's bill. we decided to scrap that. >> ed miliband. [shouting] >> trento want to ask the primers about the situation in cyprus. can the prime minister update the house what is being done to protect the british nationals including our armed forces who have deposits in cyprus banks? >> the leader of the opposition raises and externally important issue, and a very sensitive and difficult time for the republic of cyprus. first of all on the issue of anyone who is in cyprus because they've been sent there by the british government in the armed forces, m.o.d., or the foreign office, we've guaranteed that they won't anyway lose out in terms of their earnings or their savings. that is the first thing to say. we've also sure that money will be available which is why a plane with the money was sent to cyprus last night. in terms of, in terms of british citizens in cyprus, assumed our

many thousands, of course we cannot insure them against any losses in terms of cyprus bank accounts. but we can do is make sure that they did and they get safely to the pensions and benefits to which they're entitled. we've frozen those payments for the time being until the situation becomes clear, but everyone should know they will get those payments. >> ed miliband. >> mr. speaker, on monday the minister said to the uk government had intelligence about what went on in discussions among the euro zone members who negotiated the plan. can the prime minister tell us what the government knew in advance that what they said about the plan? >> first of all, as we are not in the euro, we do not join the discussions about eurozone bailout. [shouting] i think this is important and it is worth noting that because of the deal i did in brussels getting us out of the bailout fund -- [shouting] we will not be contributing the otherwise up to perhaps a

billion pounds that we would be contributing under the previous government's plan. obviously, what we are doing is now waiting to see the action that the cyprus government and the your group would agree in making sure we do everything to bridged citizens in the years and weeks ahead. >> ed miliband. >> the point of would make is this is a just matter for the eurozone, but our other european economies that goes in the banking system. i think it should've been obvious that everyone had a sudden levy imposed on all would undermine basic trust and confidence in banks. so could he send a clear message that a negotiated bail out that is going to be sides will agree with the government of cyprus needs to rebuild trust and banking system and not undermine it further? >> we've made our views very clear. in our view, when you have a deposit protection scheme as we have in this country, as all of your put in place after the

crash of lehman brothers, those deposit protection schemes should be respected. that is the whole portrai point. that is why they are there for small savings. >> harriett baldwin. >> the civil service union as threatened today to go on strike. but the country does not seem to have grounds to have hope. does the prime minister agree with me that that probably indicates that there is a bit more room to save in terms of public sector setting so we can put labour sector, get this country back on track? spent i think my friend raises an important void. it is important to recognize that we should do everything we can to save and find efficiencies in public spending in order to help hard-working families keep their tax bill do. that is exactly what this government will continue to do. >> thank you, mr. speaker. on january 9, the prime minister told me they would be no hostile to the organizations unless they were in support of the local gp

commissioners, proper public engagements and evidence-based. will now admit that not one of those test is met in the case of hospitals where he proposes to close down half the services and sell off two-thirds of the land the bailout neighboring savings trust? mr. speaker, can anyone trust this prime minister on the mh as ever again? ever again? >> i have to say to the honorable lady that it is worth remembering who set up this bfi deal that has meant for this action had to be taken. the apology over what is happening at the south london health care trust should come from the party opposite for they are responsible for creating this situation. as she knows, 1 million pounds a week is being lost from frontline care. no change is not an option, but under the health secretary's plan, he has made sure that they

will retain medical and emergency cover. >> gordon. spent great man. great men. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today, it is just under 6500. in 2008 it was just under 3500. does my right honorable friend agree with me that the real investors in this economy agree with the governors economic policy -- [inaudible] deliver by the party opposite? >> my honorable friend makes a good point. it is a very difficult and hard road we are traveling to turn this economy around after the huge mess that was made by the party opposite. but when you look at the facts, just this morning we can see an extra 131,000 people in work. we are seeing the changes necessary to start the rebuilding of our economy.

>> mr. ed mella van. [shouting] >> mr. speaker, last week in the foreign secretary said it was a strong case of amending the arms embargo of syria in the months ahead. given that no decision was taken in the eu council, does it remain the primary's intention to seek a relaxation of the eu arms embargo? >> first of all let a us look at what we've achieved and amending the arms embargo when we specifically asked it to be chained to we could give technical support to the opposition. we've achieved that at the french president and i discussed at the european council looking for further changes to the arms embargo that will be discussed by foreign affairs ministers this weekend at and the reason for that is twofold. first of all its and a peculiar message that the arms embargo still applies pretty much equally to this hateful regime and to the opposition who we now

recognize as a legitimate representative of the syrian people. and second, the french president is concerned and i'm concerned that we should not be restricted for months and months ahead when we don't know exactly what could happen in syria, including a good warning reports use of chemical weapons. >> trying to i think the prime minister for that answer. everyone is appalled by the actions of the assad regime. but he will know that there is not only a lack of unity among syrian opposition groups, but there's also the known presence of al qaeda backed organization on the ground in c. does the prime minister understand the widespread concern that remains about the idea of seeking supplies and weapons to rebels? >> i think the leader of the opposite puts the point right. there is widespread concern about the nature of the opposition and the argument i think we have to engage in is this. are we more likely to help the good elements of the opposition by standing back, or are we more likely to help by getting into and shaping and helping and giving this technical assistance so we can play a part in

building up the syrian opposition so they are legitimate and credible alternatives to this hateful regime? it is worth recalling and we should all recall the fact that current policies are not working for the people of syria. 70,000 people are dead, and this hateful regime is still in place. >> he's right that the current situation is a terrible situation. we don't want to make it worse. the u.n. has said, the u.s. secretary joe has said the introduction o of more weapons industry is adequate counterproductive or not will lead to a resolution for special representative brahimi called for renewed diplomatic initiative bring the warring party to negotiating table. can the prime minister set out what steps you a cake government is taking to support the u.n. and advancing this initiative? >> we are taking specific steps to help the u.n. with his initiative and try to achieve a diplomatic solution would transition at the top of the regime is worthwhile pursuing. that is why we have detailed

talks with the russian foreign and defense ministers in the last week. i would just make one of the point about the issue of the arms embargo, because i felt sitting about the european council chamber there was a slight similarity between some of the arguments that were being made about not putting more weapons into syria that seem to be very familiar to the discussions we had about bosnia and the appalling events that followed. and in my view it is better to be engaged working with the syrian opposition trying to bring this conflict to an end. >> anne marie morris. >> thank you, mr. speaker. the numbers on the coastal railway lines are growing fast. given local tourism, can the prime minister assure me urgent investment letter and to repair recent flood damage? >> i can get my auto a friend that assurance and in no the transport sector will be

visiting her constituency. investment is going into the hole of the line, including the major investment shortly to be completed which will help capacity all down the line. >> mr. speaker, the prime minister will be aware of the growing disquiet across the uk regarding his government welfare reform proposal. deep proposals are deeply unfair. and will they lead to chaos or does the prime minister agree with me that in terms of legacy for him, welfare reform will be his -- [inaudible] spent i don't agree at all. i find that there is strong support for the housing benefit cap so we no longer find homes, capital in our country up to 100,000 pounds a year. there is strong support for the welfare cap, and, indeed, very strong support for universal credit which will make sure that in every case people are better off in work and are better off when you choose to work extra

hours. that is what we want is a welfare system that supports enterprise, work, and aspirati aspiration. >> mr. henry bellingham. [shouting] >> is the prime minister a whether some people have died on the road in the last week? furthermore, eight have died on the last 10 weeks. does he share my concern about this tragic loss of life? is he aware of a campaign run for myself and other colleagues more broadly to improve the road? people don't understand the current budgetary restraints, simply a fair share of resources spent well, i'm grateful to my honorable friend for bring me up to date with this important campaign that he and others are meeting in norfolk. we do have a much better record oon road safety to we vetted recent years but we should never be complacent but we should continue to work on that. i know that money has been made available for road schemes in norfolk. of course, i can see from the transfer minister nodding vigorously behind my honorable

friend there may be more to,. >> -- more to come. >> does the prime minister i agree with me that people are suffering under depression and it would be the wrong politics at this time tournament to 50 the top rate of tax? and will be now, with the now canceled next month's tax cut for millionaires? [shouting] spent the point i would make to the honorable lady is after the start of the financial year, the top rate of tax will be higher than in any year when labour was in office. and i'm sure that something he would fully agree with. >> thank you, mr. speaker. today, the 20th anniversary of the wilmington bombing, and the prime minister may recall, or will recall over 20 were killed and injured almost a 12 year-old boy. will he join me in congratulating tim's parents for

the way they've worked tirelessly for piece over the past two decades? in particular, establishment of the foundation for piece which brings help to victims of conflicts around the world. >> i certainly join my honorable friend in praising that family. for the incredible bravery they have shown. when you suffer tragedy like this, it must be so much easier to try to put behind you and forget about it. but to go on and campaign for piece and to bring together the people of oregon adde have it di think shows enormous character and fortitude. they have the backing of the whole country. .. >> the point i would make to the honorable gentleman is when his party put the top rate of

paid 7 millionaires billion pounds lesson taxation. they were having a lower tax rate but raising more revenue. that makes pretty good sense. just a few weeks back my right honorable friend became the first serving prime minister will my amritsar, right honorable friend visit her majesty's government on the pioneering work they have done at airports? it shows you can have a proactive relationship with europe rather than a reactive one. >> can i say to my -- thank my honorable friend for all the work he does in his area and how he consistently raises issues about the british sikgh community, the immense contributions they make, and the respect we should show them? i also thank you for accompanying me on the trip to the golden temple, some thing i

will never forget. i want to say on behalf of everyone in this house how much british sikhs give to britain and how much we thank them. >> my constituent found himself homeless aged 17 to read he was social housing and is now studying for a levels. he is determined to improve his situation through education. from his 56 pound weekly benefits you will lose 14 pounds in the bedroom tax and three pounds in council tax. leaving just 11 pounds per week to live on after utilities. based on the prime minister's experience of hardship, what is does he have? >> the point i would make to the honorable lady is that first this government is investing in social housing and she will hear more about that in a moment or two. the second point i would make is that when housing benefit cost 23 billion pounds a year we simply have to reform it. ofre is a basic issue

fairness, which is, why should somebody who is living in private rented accommodation not receive a fair room subsidy when somebody who is in social housing showed? there is a basic issue of fairness. that is why it should be put right. >> unlike the honorable member paul shipley, i am very proud of our coalition for sticking to the 0.7% target. [shouting] >> the honorable ladies question must be heard. people should not year before they ar heard. >> later on this month the prime minister goes on to cochair the high-level panel on development goals. will he use his leadership to press for a standalone goal on a gender equality and women's empowerment? >> i will look very carefully

at what the honorable lady says --ut the importance of just gender equality in terms of new millennium development goals. the point i would make to anyone who raises the issue about our commitment -- i do not think we should break our promises to the poorest people in the world. when you think about it, our key goal ought to be to eradicate the extreme poverty people sometimes still face, living on less than 1.25 a day. that is what we are talking about. we should be proud we are keeping our promises. >> after money savings hit on budget day and in line with what the education secretary once for teachers, could the prime minister put his counselor and the cabinet on performance related pay? this has seen the deficit come down by a third since he became chancellor and has seen over one million private sector jobs. he is getting the country out of

the hole we are left in by the party opposite. >> speaker, will the prime minister welcomed the inception of the country's first local enterprise fund, were people have raised 400,000 pounds to invest in business albert -- efforts and securing employment? will he agree with me that in this respect, as in so many others, where bedford leaves -- leads the rest of the country follows. >> my honorable friend is right. he makes important points, which is that we do need to see more enterprise and have seen in britain over the last three years the fastest rate of new business creation in our history. but we need to see more of it to keep the private sector going. >> rising unemployment remains an issue in my stockton constituency. are-working families

paying for the next months of seen a tax cut for millionaires. >> if the honorable gentleman looks at the figures today he will see that there are 131,000 more people in work over the last quarter. we have seen 600,000 more people employed compared with a year ago. that is what is actually happening in terms of employment. i have to say, when we look at the mess left by the party opposite, being given advice on economics on budget day from the party opposite is like asking enron for accountancy spies -- advice. >> mr. speaker, in less than a fortnight's time this government will have taken 3168 of my constituents -- [inaudible] thisthis not show

conservative government is on the side of hard-working people? >> we have consistently lifted the personal tax allowance, the amount of money you earned before you start paying tax, starting at 6000 pounds and rising all the time. over 2 million people have been taken out of tax altogether. .> bridget phillipson >> does the prime minister agree with his honorable friend that his government focus should be on looking after people struggling to pay their mortgages rather than protecting those in the 2 million pound houses? >> we should be helping people paying their mortgages. that is why it is so vital that we stick to our plan because we have low interest rates in this country because we have a plan to get the deficit down. that is key. the other point i would make to the honorable lady is that if you look at the funding for lending scheme from the bank of england that has massive testily reduced mortgage rates

and has also made sure that people who do not have access to a large deposit are able to look at buying a house. we are making progress but there is a lot more to do. >> evan williamson. >> we have had the wonderful news that they're going to create a further 700 jobs. over 500 million pounds. last year we saw the creation of 70,000 manufacturing jobs in the uk. does my right honorable friend not think this is a stark contrast to the 1.7 million manufacturing jobs destroyed under the last government? >> jaguar land rover has been a massive success story for our country and i would praise all of those who have invested money in that business and all those who work in that business. the apprenticeships trained in that business. it is part of a recovery of our automotive sector that has for

the first time in 30 years seen a surplus in the number of cars that we export overseas. it is part of a picture where other automotive businesses in the sector are doing well and we support them. >> the prime minister will be aware that this week marks the bicentennial of the birth of dr. davey livingston, born in my constituency and buried in westminster abby. hisill know that one of proudest achievements with the drive to abolish slavery any staffer. then the bicentennial, does prime minister agree it is time for his government to take the lead to and the scandal of the 2.5 million people in modern-day slavery of prostitution as a result of people trafficking? gentlemanorable makes an important point. it gives me the opportunity to praise the president for her work and what she is doing to lift people out of poverty in malawi.

he makes an important point about slavery because there is still modern-day slavery. we still need to take action in order to combat it. at a european level, at a national level, and a local level with the police. the government will continue to take that action. >> what are the chances the chancellor announces today -- next month's pay slips for millions of people will show a tax cut the personal allowance side. to largest single change income tax in this parliament. what does this say about the priorities of his coalition government? >> this is an important priority that we have taken action on in budget after budget, even in difficult times, saying the people we are on your side, we want to tap -- cut your tax bills. there will be a tax cut of over 200 pounds for 24 million people in our country. .ach and every taxpayer

at the same time lifting 2 million people out of tax of the do not pay any income tax at all. it is real progress on the side of people who want to get on. >> what is the prime minister planning to spend his millionaires tax cut on? when the top rate of tax was 7t up, millionaires paid billion pounds less. that is the sort of incompetence and inefficiency -- >> members should not shout their heads off when the prime minister is giving an answer. >> dr. julian lewis. that sergeant danny nightingale has had his conviction quashed following the quashing of his military prison sentence last year, does the

prime minister agree with me that it would be totally against the public interest and the interest of the regiment for him to have to face a fresh trial when others are benefiting from the weapons byesty rightly introduced the secretary of defense as the result of the nightingale case? >> my honorable friend raises an important point. but me say how strongly i support all of those who serve in our special forces. you get the privileges prime minister as meeting -- of meeting these brave people and seeing they are the most courageous people in our country. i do not want to get in trouble with my friend the attorney general, so i will leave the issues the court to the court. >> the government has set aside to help people hit by the bedroom tax. it will not cover a fraction.

like that of my paralyzed constituent who needs round-the- clock care from his wife. there is an acute housing shortage in york and they have nowhere to go to. will the prime minister do one more you turn on of the bedroom ?ax and scrap it altogether >> let me remind the honorable gentleman that only the labour party could call a welfare reform a tax. how they understand how tax and benefits actually work. what we are doing is making available a discretionary fund but recognizing that there is a .asic issue of cost 23 billion spent on housing benefit every year. a basic issue of fairness, not just between the private sector and the social sector but also recognizing there are 1.8 million people on housing waiting list to would love to have a bedroom. does my right honorable

they quoted milton keynes. -- is it rebuilding our economy? >> i was aware of that statistic inause it -- when we were milton teens recently talking exactly about this issue. area forntastic business it is. it is leading to a growth and employment in that region. that the chancellor has this morning joined twitter, could the prime minister remind the chancellor and the house what too many tweets make? >> i made a number of remarks about twitter over the years. most of which i have to withdraw because i am now tweeting

myself. i look forward to the first tweet after the budget this afternoon. what is clear is he could tweet even now that we are cutting taxes in two weeks time for 24 million working people. taking 2 million people out of tax. certainly tweeting that would not cause any dangers for him. the home secretary governments got their immigration policy wrong. that she should persuade her husband to make a similar position as far as economic policy? >> i think my honorable friend makes a very good point. we inherited a complete shambles when it came to immigration, a system completely out of control. but we have had apologies or sort of apologies for that.

what we have not had as any sort of apology for the borrowing, spending, and debt, for the mess we are left in by the party opposite. >> mr. speaker, it has been estimated that some of the cost 7 just one nuclear reactor, million households would be lifted out of fuel poverty. it comes with an eye watering 14 billion pound price tag. that does not make nuclear unaffordable, can you tell us what would? >> our fleet of nuclear power stations are coming to the end of their life. i think it is very important that we work hard to replace some of that capacity. myt is what -- why i think right honorable friend was absolutely right to give us the go-ahead. i think it will be an important provider of carbon-free of electricity in the years ahead. >> order. [captioning performed bynational captioning institute][captions copyright nationalcable satellite corp. 2013]>> you

have been watching prime minister's questions from the british house of commons. members are on a break for the easter recess and will return the week of april 15. wednesday,me returns april 17, live on c-span 2 at 7:00 a.m. eastern. watch any time at c-span.org where you can find other british public affairs programs. next, george osborne, chancellor of the exchequer talks about the british budget. then, a house hearing on electronic privacy. after that, a house hearing with federal housing administration acting director edward demarco. >> let's go straight to a personal topic. sinceairman has been on late 2009. his term is up, euros will be up next year.